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The Effect of Socioeconomic Status on How the Brain Processes Sound

Erika Skoe, assistant professor of speech, language, and hearing sciences, has found that children of parents with low levels of education hear differently than their peers, which could affect their performance in school. (Photo by Peter Morenus)

A UConn professor and her colleagues at Northwestern University have found that adolescents from families that are low on the socioeconomic ladder process some sounds less accurately than their peers. The finding could have wide-ranging implications for learning, memory and reading comprehension.

“If your brain is treating a sound differently every time you hear it, then how will you learn the meaning of that sound? How will you learn to read effectively?” says assistant professor of speech, language and hearing sciences Erika Skoe.

Skoe and co-authors Nina Kraus, the study’s principal investigator, and Jennifer Krizman, worked with teenagers in three Chicago-area public schools that serve students with low socioeconomic status. The researchers used the teens’ mothers’ self-reported education level, a common proxy for socioeconomic status, to separate the students into two groups: those whose mothers had a high school education or less, and those whose mothers had any post-secondary education.

Studies have shown that children whose parents have little education hear fewer, simpler words in their homes, have fewer interactive discussions with their family members, and experience more general ambient noise. Skoe wondered if this dearth of what she calls “auditory enrichment” would have an effect on how children’s brains work.

“We want to tap into how one’s experience with sound has wired or rewired the brain,” she says.

“If your brain is treating a sound differently every time you hear it, then how will you learn the meaning of that sound? How will you learn to read effectively?”

Sixty-six students in the two groups listened to auditory stimuli – single syllables that are easy to understand – while hooked up to electroencephalography (EEG) equipment. The EEG measured responses from the auditory brainstem, the lowest part of the brain where, Skoe says, responses are automatic.

“This part of your brain would respond whether you were awake, asleep or even anesthetized,” says Skoe. Getting this response was important in understanding how the most fundamental brain processes are affected by one’s auditory landscape

The brain waves produced by students in the low-maternal-education group turned out to be “noisier” than those of their higher-maternal-education peers: their brain signals represented sounds less accurately and were less consistent in their representations of the same sound over time.

In other words, students from low-maternal-education backgrounds were hearing sounds less accurately and with more variability.

Skoe says these findings have major implications for how students learn and process information.

“If your brain is creating a different signal each time you hear a sound, or if that signal is noisy, you might be losing some of the details of the sound,” she says. These details could make all the difference in the classroom.

But in some cases, says Skoe, auditory skills are honed in other ways. Studies have shown that being bilingual or playing a musical instrument can give students a leg up. Both are forms of auditory enrichment that may potentially mitigate the effects of socioeconomic status.

Acoustically enhancing the academic environment, through the use of assistive listening devices in the classroom, is another promising option, says Skoe. In a recent Northwestern study, teachers wore a microphone that piped their voice directly into an in-ear receiver used by dyslexic children in their class. The system helped to overcome background noise and classroom acoustics. After one year of using this system, the children’s brain responses improved.

“Modifying the auditory world for a particular student, even if just for a portion of the day, can improve academic performance and fine-tune how sound is automatically encoded in the brain,” says Skoe.

The biggest take-home message of her study, she says, is that the power of education can’t be overstated, and it can affect not only the person who is educated, but their children as well.

“If a parent’s education level can be improved just a little bit, it could make a big difference in her children’s lives,” she says. Even if educational advancement isn’t an option, Skoe encourages parents to engage in conversations with their children, and she points out that in some communities, parents can also take courses on how to better communicate with their children.

Skoe, who joined UConn this fall, is especially interested in working with schools in the Connecticut area on similar questions. If scientists can create concrete data showing the origins of learning and reading problems, then she hopes state and national funding can be allocated to help these issues.

“We’re doing this science to understand what we’ve already been observing in the real world,” says Skoe.

Join us for a talk by Gina Barreca,2018 UCONN BOARD OF TRUSTEESDISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH

All great works of fiction, poetry and dramaâas well as texts forming mythologies, religions, national epics to heroic sagasâhave loneliness at the heart of their narrative. From Persephone to Peter Pan, from âFrankensteinâ to âFrozen,â the stories we pass along are saturated with unwilling isolation.âOnly around half of Americans say they have meaningful, daily face-to-face social interactions,â according to a 2017 study. A former U.S. Surgeon General argues that âWe live in the most technologically connected age in the history of civilization, yet rates of loneliness have doubled since the 1980s.â We need more than social media. We need social contact. We need community. How can we break through the loneliness barrier? Being alone when in need of companionship is more than sad; itâs an epidemic.Chronic loneliness is as bad for your health as smoking 15 cigarettes per day. We need to change our national story and, often, our personal ones as well.Even the concept of the âlone wolfâ is a myth. Wolves hunt in packs.

Reception to follow.

For more information about this event, or if you are an individual who requires special accommodation to participate, please contact the CLAS Deanâs Office at (860) 486-2713.

A liberal arts and sciences degree prepares students with the tools they need to excel across a wide range of careers. Given the number of options available to you, it can be overwhelming to narrow down career choices. Attending CLAS Career Night will provide you exposure to career opportunities for CLAS students.

This semesterâs focus will be on research-based careers. During this event you will engage with CLAS alumni, learn about various occupations, and gain insight about how to best prepare for your future career.

The McNair Scholars Program and the Office of Undergraduate Research invite you to join us for a brown bag research seminar.

Birds, Bacteria, and Bioinformatics: Why Evolutionary Biology is the Best

Sarah Hird, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Molecular and Cell Biology

This series is open to all undergraduate and graduate students, and is designed especially for students conducting (or interested in conducting) STEM research. These seminars are opportunities to learn about research being pursued around campus, to talk with faculty about their path into research, and to ask questions about getting involved in research.

About CLAS

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is the academic core of learning and research at UConn. We are committed to the full spectrum of academics across the sciences, social sciences, and humanities. We give students a liberal arts and sciences education that empowers them with broad knowledge, transferable skills, and an ability to think critically about important issues across a variety of disciplines.